Notices of courses, meetings, workshops, etc.

Morphometrics and Statistical Shape Analysis Meeting UK 2010

The second UK one-day meeting on morphometrics and statistical shape analysis will take place at the University of Kent, Canterbury on the 11th January 2010. The success of the 2009 meeting held at Manchester highlighted the need for a regular meeting forum for researchers interested in the application of morphometrics and those working on the methodological and theoretical development of the discipline. The programme includes presentations by six experts and the opportunity for all participants to present posters on their research. Therefore, this meeting provides a stimulating forum for cross-disciplinary engagement between researchers and the possibility to develop new collaborative projects across the life sciences.

The meeting web site is now up and running.

The deadline for registration and payment of the registration fee is the 11th December. Please circulate this notice to all interested colleagues and students. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel.

Geometric Morphometric Laboratory for Systematics and Evolutionary Researches - 1-5 February 2010

The Centre for Evolutionary Ecology is organizing a Geometric Morphometric Laboratory for Systematics and Evolutionary Research, from 1-5 February 2010. The Laboratory will be held in Italy at the Dept STAT of the University of Molise, which is co-founder of the Centre with the University of Roma 3. The Departement is located in Pesche, a small village near Isernia (Southern Italy, about 150 km from Rome). The Laboratory is addressed to max 30 research scientists and PhD students who are already skilled in the basics of Geometric Morphometrics and Statistics. The aims is to explore the analysis of different data, from landmarks to semilandmarks and outlines, both in 2D and 3D, with specific attention to comparative methods, ecophenotipic variation, and functional morphology interpretations. Morning classes and lab will be lectured and run by Dean C. Adams from Iowa State University and Dennis E. Slice from Florida State University. Afternoon lectures and lab will be given by Andrea Cardini, Paolo Piras, and Pasquale Raia who will present case studies and related software and techniques. Details about program, costs, transportations, accommodation and registration can be found at http://host.uniroma3.it/laboratori/paleontologia/workshop%202010.htm.

 

MORPHOMETRICS COURSE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

This year's morphometrics course from the University of Manchester will run in the six weeks from 9 November to 18 December 2009. The course information can be found on the following we site: http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoCourse.

Course content: -- Data acquisition: the kinds of data and the equipment used to collect them. -- Statistics of variation, scatterplots, basic multivariate statistics -- Definitions of size and shape (distance measures) -- Geometric methods to measure shape from a configuration of landmark points (Procrustes superimposition) -- Measurement error and outliers -- Shape transformations and 'warping' -- the thin plate spline -- Analysis of outline shapes -- Distinguishing between groups (taxonomy, clinical diagnosis, etc.) -- Allometry and size correction -- Influence of external factors on shape (ecomorphology, dose-response studies) -- Symmetric forms and measurement of asymmetry. -- Morphometric inferences on developmental processes, morphological integration, modularity -- Genetics of shape: analyses of resemblance between relatives, QTL analyses. -- Phylogeny: reconstructing the evolution of shape

Practice examples: As far as possible, practical exercises are provided to accompany the course content. These practice exercises consist of data sets and explanations on how to run the respective analyses using the MorphoJ software (http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoJ_page.htm). Participants who already have their own data are encouraged to use those and to discuss them as part of the course. I hope there will be a bit of a 'workshop' feel to the course unit.

The fee for the course is GBP 190.00.

All prospective participants need to pre-register for the course. The deadline for this is the 31 August 2009.

For further details, see the course web page: http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoCourse

 

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Leslie Marcus memorial

See the special section of the morphometrics forum.